Overtime Anyone?

byLillzMorgan

157 followers

Updated 10 years ago

More often than not we are asked if we'd like to stay behind for an hour or so and do a bit of overtime during the week; and when 'blessed' Friday rolls around without fail my leading hand will ask if we'd like to work a bit of overtime on Saturday or Sunday.

I must admit, there was a time when I would jump at all the overtime I could get my hands on. Earning a little bit extra per week seemed like a good idea to me. It always meant more spending money. Traditionally I had always budgeted my normal wages down to the very last cent, every dollar I earned in my normal wages for the week was already tagged; so having the extra money always meant more spending money, and that's exactly what it was.

I'm not quite sure why I wanted the extra spending money, afterall, I never had anything more to show for it at the end of the week. I would either eat it or drink it. Actually now that I think about it, the only thing I had to show for it was the amount of weight I gained; so unfortunately I do have something to show.

Back on track, this isn't about weight loss or weight gain....

Working overtime isn't really that bad, there are a couple of perks. For anytime I work over 40 hours per week on a weekday my rate increases to 'time and a half', that's the same for Saturday too; and if I work on a Sunday my rate is 'double time'. Often I would choose to work a Sunday and have Saturday off. In essence I would earn an extra $300 per week spending money working the overtime. Also, if ever there were days that I'd take off during the week, working any overtime on the weekend would get my wages over and above my budget threshold. Overtime is a winner in these instances, but like I said, I basically ate it and drank it away so it was a waste of time.

Everyday I walk 4 kilometers to and from work, it takes me 40 minutes each way to get to work and home. That equates to about 15 songs, so if you can imagine I spent a good amount of time selecting my playlists. When I'd get bored with the latest playlist I'd switch it up and create another after another; and I would stay behind and do a bit of overtime, or I'd go into work on the weekends and collect more spending money to waste.

Then I changed...

I'm not sure what caused the change, I cannot put my finger on a defining moment that made me completely switch up my listening pleasures. I changed from listening to music, and completely switched to listening to educational audio. It became more than just listening to educational audios, I had to have the books as well. I've mentioned this in an earlier post of mine that I am not a big fan of reading. Infact prior to the last 12 months I can count all the non-picture books I had read on one hand, unfortunately, that would include all the books I needed to read in highschool. It's only after taking up reading in the last year that I find that fact about myself very disappointing. I am working on rectifying that however; and I owe it all to the educational audios.

So, like I said, I now walk to work and most days I get escorted to work by some amazing people. Amazing because they make me want to be more and achieve more, and having them in my ears talking about their experiences and offerings of life lessons completly change the way I think when I'm working at my normal job. By listening to educational audios, I have learnt to set goals and crystalise them on paper. I know exactly what it is I'm working toward, and what activities and tasks I need to do everyday to move closer towards achieving everything I want to attain.

Through listening to educational audios I have become very focused, and the activities I perform daily are always planned and executed with my goals in mind.

Now, when I work overtime, I have a specific 'something' that I will buy using that money. The money I earned from working overtime has dropped the 'spending money' tag, and is now earmarked as "self-improvement money".

You guessed it, my 'self improvement money' now buys more educational audios, books and courses. Though it is teeny-tiny, I now have a library; and I can say that every book in my collection I have read. Often I will spend a few minutes each day looking for another book or audio for me to buy. When I find one that I think will be a great resource, I get excited and start reading the current book I am on at the time for even longer periods just so I can get to the next book. Every week I buy a new book and educational audio online, and every week I have a new book and educational audio arrive in the post.

Educational audios will always be my favourite; they helped to grow my appetite for reading, and since the major cut-backs started at my job, my appetite to learn more has turned insatiable. Initially I woke an hour earlier each day so that I could make time each morning to read before I left for work, now I tend to read upto an hour and a half each morning just because I like it. I now average reading one book per week, pretty soon I'll have 52 books that I can say I have read. I have the same amount of audios.

Changing the way I spend overtime money has made an amazing change to how I think. I am an unskilled worker, but I am gaining ground in becoming a skilled online entrepreneur, and this excites me.

Having found Wealthy Affiliates I feel I am about to morph yet again. I am set to work earnestly toward achieving my goals, and I tell you now, I wouldn't bet against me!

#TheUnskilledWorker